Justine Greening is expected to receive a promotion in Theresa May's new CabinetCredit:
Christopher Pledger for The Telegraph

A spokesman for Mrs May said: “It was Theresa who set up the campaign to elect more female MPs to Parliament – and she has always believed that there should be more women in prominent government positions.”

However, her decision to promote female MPs into senior positions differentiates her from Lady Thatcher.

Lady Thatcher only appointed one woman to any of her Cabinets in the 11 years that she was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990.

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Janet Young, or Baroness Young of Farnworth, was appointed Leader of the House of Lords from 1981 to 1983 in Lady Thatcher’s first term.

However, there were far fewer female MPs during Lady Thatcher’s time in office, with 19 between 1979 and 1983, 23 between 1983 and 1987 and 41 between 1987 and 1992.

In other major moves expected to be announced in the coming days Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, could become the new Chancellor and swap roles with Mr Osborne, who is being tipped as the new Foreign Secretary.

Friends of Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, said that he hoped to play a “significant role” in Mrs May’s Cabinet and feels that he “has a lot to give”.

Speaking to Conservative activists she said: “Let’s not forget about the opposition.

Let us make sure we put this time to good use, to build the support we need to go to the country in four years’ time, and not just win, but win bigTheresa May

“The Labour Party brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy and we can never let them do it again. Whether it’s led by Tony Blair, Gordon Brown or Jeremy Corbyn, when Labour prospers the country suffers.

“So let’s make sure they don’t prosper. Let us redouble our efforts.

“And let us make sure we put this time to good use, to build the support we need to go to the country in four years’ time, and not just win, but win big.”

There are likely to be several new women appointed to Cabinet including Karen Bradley, a junior Home Office minister, and Margot James, a long-standing ally of Mrs May.

Priti Patel, the Eurosceptic employment minister, is likely to be appointed to a full Cabinet role.

Priti Patel is tipped to replace Amber Rudd as the new Energy SecretaryCredit:
Neil Hall/Reuters